Tight security arrangements as people arrive in large numbers

Hyderabad: Five hours ahead of the public meeting of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the City police sanitised the entire 5 km-long route between Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s camp office in Begumpet and the Parade Grounds in Secunderabad on Monday.

From noon, khaki-clad policemen were seen at every few yards all along the stretch, as mobile patrols kept crisscrossing. It was as if every available foot of space on either side of the road was taken over by pink flags and banners, all predominantly displaying photographs of the Chief Minister and that of his supporters.

As early as at 2 p.m. people started making a beeline for the venue, in their enthusiasm to get as close to the dais as possible. Police had to tough job regulating traffic and guiding those who were streaming in from all over the new State in their endeavour to be present at the party’s first-ever plenary.

Apart from the regular jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) G. Sudheer Babu, the West Zone DCP, A. Venkateshwar Rao has also been made responsible for ‘bandobust’ on the route. Central Zone DCP V.B. Kamalhasan Reddy will be responsible for security of the dais at the public meeting and the immediate vicinity.